Coal handling plant



July 1932- c. F. BLEDSOE 1,857,547

' GOAL HANDLING PLANT Filed Sept. 1, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l 6125/ f. ledsae July 19, 1932. BL'EDSQE 1,867,547

,COAL HANDLING PLANT Filed Sept. 1, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmmy Patented July 19 1932 UNITED I STATES PATENT" OFFICE CARL F. BLEDSOE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T OGLE CONSTRUCTION C0; OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATIQN OF ILLINOIS COAL HANDLING PLANT.

Application filed September l, 1928. Serial No. 303,423.

This invention relates to a coal handling structure in which the traveling skip is always horizontal except when dumping, and '5 in which such skip positively controls the cutoff gate so that the same is always positively opened and closed by the movements of the bucket. In addition, there are secondary fea tures of novelty involved in thecombination which will be pointed out in the following description.

The invention comprises the novel structure and combination of parts hereinafter described and, more particularly pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred form of this invention, and in which similar reference numerals refer to similar features in the different views,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevational vlew of a coal handling plant'involving this invention. I

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the top of the coal handling tower.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarge-d elevational view of the machinery house with parts broken away.

Figure a is'an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the loading station of the 3 plant. 1

Figure 5 isan enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken upon the line V-V of Figure 4. 7

F igure 6 is a fragmentary part sectional 35 and part elevational view of'the skip and cutof!" gate illustrating the opening of the same.

Figure 7 is a view similar-t0 Figure 6,1llus' trating the parts in a different pos1t1on as the gate is closed.

4 Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken upon the line VIIIVIII of Figure 4.

As shown on the drawings: V In connection with his invention, there is shown a vertical tower 1, the upper portion of which is shown in Figure 2, and which upper portion'supports one or more sheaves 2 for. the hoisting cables 3. One branch-of each cable-3 descends and is wrapped around a hoisting drum 4, (Figure 3), inthe ma- 59 chinery house. These drums are secured to a shaft 5 which may be driven by anysuit able force or power,,such as a reversible m0- tor which is well known in the art. Thesame branches of the cables extend over pulleys 6 supported in a sWingable slack adjusterr7. After passing around the; pulleys 6 of the slack adjuster, thesame branches of the cables are attached to the sides of the skip or bucket 8,.as indicated at 9. The other branches of the cables 3 extend down the tower and over suitable guide pulleys l0 atthe foot of the tower, and the branchesof these cables are also attached to the sides of the bucket as indicated at 9. In fact, there are two endless cables which areattached to the sides of the bucket 8. The bucket 8 is adapted to travel upon vertical tracks 11 and 12, supported by the tower. The vertical tracks 12' merge intoupper inclined tracks 13 which are shown as extending down to a coal or ash receiving hopper. The inclined track' l3 ter-- minates in a horizontal portion l l just below the hopper. It will, of course, be understood that the term track as herein used, is intended to cover two rails, one for receiving a roller upon each side of the bucket. The track 11 transfers the rollers on the bucket to blocks 15 at the lowerlend thereof, which blocks have curved surfaces. In alignment with the traveling surfaces of blocks '15 there is a track 16 which inclines downwardly in parallel relation with the track 13, but below the same. The tracklfi also terminates in a. horizontal portion 14 beneath the hopper. It will be noted that the ends ofthe rails of the track 16 are spaced a. short distance from the blocks 15 to provide a gap 17, and cooperating withthe curved surface of each block'- 15 there is a curved plate 18 Which'eXtends from the track 11. This plate 18 is spaced from the upper track 13 to provide forthe continuation of the gap 17, whereby, as-the' bucket is pulled up the tower, the cable attaching studs 9 may pass through-the gap 17 It will be noted that the upperiand lower inclined tracks 13 and 16 are more widely spaced apart than the horizontaltrack portions 14, and that below'the track -13there is a filler 13a so that the roller traveling spaces 7 between the upper and lower tracks will be uniform for guiding the lower rollers on the bucket. It will be further noted that the bend 16a in the lower track 16 is positioned forwardly of the horizontal portion of the track 13 for a purpose that will later appear.

The bucket 8 is provided with a bar 19 upon each side for supporting rollers 20 and 21. It will be noted that these rollers are longitudinal'ly and vertically spaced. In other words, the axes of the rollers lie in an oblique plane. In the present instance the bucket is shown as provided with side boards 22.

The aforementioned slack take-up mechanism consists of a swingabl'e bar 7 for each cable 3. The bar is pivoted to a casting 23 at the bottom of the tunnel beneath the hope per in which the lower part of the apparatus is mounted. The upper end of each swingable member 7 has a cable 2 1 attached thereto, and each cable 24is trained over an arouate block 25 and supports a counterweight 26 atits lower end. It will be appreciated that the pulling of the cables 24: over the blocks 25 will produces considerable friction due to the counterweights 26.

In the drawings there is illustrated a hopper 27 which is controlled by an arcuate shutoff gate 28 of usual construction. This shutoff gate closes an exit through a chute 29 ex tending from the hopper. The shut-off gate is provided with a counterweight 30 that assists in closing the gate and maintaining the same in closed position. Means are provided 3 upon the gate 28 for coaetion with the bucket 8 whereby the gate is positively openedand closed through the movements of the bucket.

To this end, there. is a de ending arm 31 which is rigidly secured to t e bucket. This 2' depending arm has a lower bent end which is adapted toride upon an abutment 32 upon the upper front wall of the bucket. The arm 31 is adapted to be engaged by the bucket foropening the gate. A one-way swingablearm 33 is pivoted to the gate adjacent the arm 31 upon a pivot 34:. Between the arms 31 and 33 there is a filler block 35, and a cover plate 36 extends over the arms and filler block. It willbe understood that the arms 31 and 33 are duplicated upon the other-side of the shut-off gate. i

Upon the pivot rod 28, ofthe cut-0E gate 2 8, there are a pair of freely swingable arms 37, only one of which is shown. The lower ends of these arms are connected by angle bars 38 connectedface to face as shown'in Figure 4, and which are in alignment with the arcuate periphery of the cut-off gate and cooperate therewith.

It will be noted that bars are located at the forward end of the chute 29 and they are restrained fronr downward swinging move the lower ends of; the bars 37 and cause them automatically to swing against the stops 39. These bars 37 and angles 38 constitute a movable or yieldable forward end for the chute, so that if a lump of coal or material should become lodged between the cut-0H gate and the angles 38, the bars 37 will swing upwardly allowing the bucket to clear the swingable arm 33 upon the gate, and avoiding thereby any possibility of breaking parts of the apparatus. It will be noted that the forwardend of the coal chute 29 is open at its lower portion. However when the gate is closed, the horizontal flanges of the angles 38 cooperate with the bottom of the gate to close the chute. These flanges curve upwardly as shown in Figure 4 andnormally prevent the coal from escaping through the opening in the chute. It will hence be apparent that when the gate is closed, coal may become wedged between the angles 38 and the forward endof the gate and as the bucket is pulling the gate to its closed position, parts might become broken if the gate could not swing far enough to free the bucket. Now as the arms 37 and angles 38 can swing upwardly the gate can always swing far enough forward to release the bucket if a lump of coal became wedged between the gate and angles 38. If the front end ofthe chute were closed at the lower part andv the arm 37 and angles 38 were eliminated, the coal would become wedged between. the gate and the rigid front wall of the chute when the gate is closed with the result that the bucket dragging upon the arms 33 of the gate would not be ableto swing thegate sufficiently far to pass under the arm 33 and parts would be caused to break if the lump of coal. could not be-crushed. By using such a yieldable or: swingable part as 38, it is possible to positively close the gate by the movement of. the bucket.

In the operation of the devicelet it be assumed that the parts areing the position as shownin the drawings in which the shut-oil gate has been opened by the bucket and has been filled with material fromthehopper.v If

can clear the same as shown in Figure 7. The

arms 33 will then. swing by gravity as shown in Figure 7 so that theywill not interfere with the bucket when it-returns for another load. It shouldbeobservedjthat as the-bucket is moved toward'the tower the rollers 20: will reach the lower bend 16a. in the-track by thetime the rollers21'r'each the foot of. the in clinedupper rail 13wso the bucket will still be" in true horizontal'position. Now, as the bucket begins to travel up the incline, the two rollers and 21 will begin their ascent at the same time and on account of the arrangement, the bucket will be maintained in true horizontal position while traveling up the incline.

It will further be appreciated that the pull of the cable on the lower part of the bucket will not tend to tilt the bucketsince any such tilting movement will be resisted by'the rollers 2O engaging the bottom of the filler 13a on the rail 13 and the engagement of the roller 21 on the track 13. The term track 7 v as used herein is intended to mean merely the 'ment.

traveling surfaces of the rail upon which the rollers travel. Accordingly, the inclined tracks are spaced farther apart than the horizontal portions 14.

After the bucket has been lifted and dumped in a manner well known inthe art,

the motor maybe reversed for lowering the bucket for receiving another load. As the bucket descends, the shoulders 32 on the front wall of the bucket will engagethe arms 31 and automatically open the cut-ofi gate as shown in Figures 4 and 6. The gate is, therefore, positively controlled by the movements of the bucket.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that a very simple apparatus for handling any kind of material in a very quick and ethcient way has been provided. It will be appreciated that the bucket is so controlled that it will always travel in a horizontal di rection so that it will be impossible to spill the load that it carries. dent that the positive control of thecut-ofi gate by the bucket always assures that the gate will be opened or closed.-

I am aware that many changes may be made, and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus of'the class described, upper and lower inclined tracks terminating in horizontal portions more closely spaced than the inclined portions, the upper track having a greater depth at the inclined portion to provide a uniform roller space between said tracks, in-combination with a bucket hav It will be further ev i movements upon said tracks with its mouth in upward position, the inclined portions of the 7 tracks being so spaced as to maintain said bucket in upright position while travelling thereover, and means for operating said bucket, said tracks and rollers preventing spaced rollers upon each side for travelling said bucket from tilting from a vertical po- I sition while drawn by said cable and the lower rollers being confined between said tracks against vertical movement. v

3. In an apparatus of the class described,

a pair of-vertical tracks, apair of inclined tracks leading therefrom and terminating in horizontal portions more closely spaced than the inclined portions, in combination with a bucket having a pair ofvertica'lly andlongitudinally spaced rollers, the rear pair of rollers travelling upon the upper track and the forward pair travelling upon the lower track, said inclined portions of said tracks being so spaced as to-guide and support said bucket in vertical position, and a hoisting cable attached to the lower portion of said bucket, saidtracks and rollers preventing a tilting movement of said bucket on said inclined and horizontal track portions while drawn by said cable. g

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a bucket having a pair of rear rollers adjacent the top thereof and a pair of-forward. rollers below 'said rear rollers, an inclined track terminating in a horizontal portion for supporting each pair of rollers, said tracks being so *spaced as to support said bucket in vertical position and-prevent tilting there of and a hoisting cable secured to the lower portion of said bucket. V

5. In an apparatus of the-class described, a pair of vertical tracks, a pair of inclined tracks, terminating in horizontal portions and extending from said vertical tracks,

a slack take up mechanism at the lower ends of said track and including cable guiding means, a bucket having rollers supported upon said tracks,anda hoistingcable extending around said guiding means and attached tosaid bucket.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a shut-oil gate swingable in an arc, an arm extending from said gate, a bucket for engaging said arm for opening said gate, a second arm pivoted to said gate andswingable in one direction for clearing said bucket when the latter travels to bucket loading position, and a stop on said bucket for arrest ing-the swinging movements of said second arm in the other direction' for engagement by said bucket for closing said gate.

7. In an apparatus of the class described,

a delivery chute, an arcuate gate swingable' rearwardly for opening said chute and swingable forwardly for closing saidchute,

a pair of arms pivoted co-axially with said gate, amember-attached to-the bottom of saidarms in alinement with the closing portion of said gate, means for maintaining said arms adjacent the forward side of said chute, in combination with a bucket mounted for travelling movements beneath said chute, said arms adapted to swing forwardly if an obstruction enters between said member and bucket to allow said gate to swing sufficiently forward for the bucket to pass.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, a delivery chute, an arcuate cut-off gate piv oted to said chute and swingable in an arc for closing the bottom of said chute, said gate being swing-able rearwardly for opening said chute and swingableforwardly for closing said chute, a track beneath said chute, a bucket mounted upon said track for travelling movements, cooperating means between said bucket and gate for opening and closing said gate, and yielding means at the forward end of said chute in alinement with the bottom of said gate adapted for movement to allow the gate to swing forward and the a bucket to pass when an obstruction enters between said gate and means.

9. In an apparatusof the class described, a delivery chute, a cut-off gate having a curved bottom for closing said chute, a'movable member at the forward end of said chute forming a continuation of the bottom of the gate, a track beneath said chute, a bucket mounted upon the track, cooperating means between said bucket and gate for opening and closing said gate during the travelling movements of said bucket, said movable member being adapted for movement to allow said gate to swing forwardly and the bucket to pass when an obstruction enters between said gate and movable member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name at Chicago, Cook county,

Illinois.

CARL F. BLEDSOE. 

